Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services

Ontario Police College
Proud to be YOUR College
History

The Ontario Police College (OPC) owes its very existence to the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP). The idea of creating a central police academy in Ontario was conceived by the visionary members of the OACP in the early 1950s. In 1957, the forerunner group of the OACP, the Chief Constables’ Association, agreed on a strategy to advance the formation of a compulsory police training institution for the province. In January 1959, the Attorney General appointed an advisory committee on police training, and on July 12, 1962, he announced the formal establishment of the OPC, which offered its first classes on January 7, 1963 in the temporary wartime training quarters of an abandoned RCAF base near Aylmer, Ontario. In 1976, the OPC expanded to its present facilities on this site.

your OPC today

Since that time the OPC has seen three expansions.

The first occurred in 1994 and saw the addition of an outdoor range, a new indoor range and an entire wing dedicated to use of force training.

The second expansion was in 2001, the Dynamic Simulation Area. A realistic "streetscape” allowing for realistic scenario based training.

The latest expansion, completed in March 2004, brought with it 25 additional residential rooms with ensuites, a 130-seat auditorium, additional classrooms as well as training offices and classrooms for CISO. The OPC provides 539 individual student rooms and 36 apartments/suites for seconded instructors.

The academic training area consists of twenty-seven regular classrooms, three portable classrooms, and four classrooms dedicated to computer-based training. A communications classroom is supplied for recruit and specialist training in the use of Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) and emergency telecommunications equipment and procedures. The Forensic Identification Unit has a dedicated computer-equipped state-of-the-art classroom. Major Case Management delivers computer-based training courses regarding proper documentation and retrieval of case information.

The OPC employs 162 full and part-time employees, including support staff and instructors. The 49 permanent instructors are supplemented by police officers from various police services, usually contracted for a two-year period. As of January 2004, there were 44 seconded and contract instructors.

OPC MANDATE

The OPC’s mandate is rooted in the Police Services Act, which requires the OPC to provide training to members of police services in Ontario. Our primary clients are police and civilian members of all police services in the Province of Ontario, including municipal, regional and First Nation services and the Ontario Provincial Police. Additional clients include government personnel from other provincial and municipal enforcement agencies. From time to time students from outside the Province of Ontario and from abroad are accepted for training. In the year 2003, the OPC trained approximately 9,600 students, of which 1,113 were police recruits.

SECONDED PROGRAM

The OPC is extremely proud of the partnership it has with all the police services in Ontario in its seconded program. Police services allow members of their staff to be seconded to the Ontario Police College for two-year terms; thereby ensuring programs at the OPC are reflective of policing today. The seconded program is the lifeblood of the OPC and ensures that programs like the Basic Constable Training Program are vibrant and meaningful.

PROGRAMS

The OPC offers more than 50 courses as well as numerous conferences, seminars and workshops and remains at the leading edge for police training. Courses vary from the Basic Constable Training Program to Forensic Entomology.

Basic Constable Training:
The Basic Constable Training Program is designed to provide candidates with a sound knowledge of the laws and procedures that front-line officers are required to apply in the performance of their duties. Particular emphasis is placed on the core functions of the police services as found in section 4(2) of the Police Services Act:
  • Crime Prevention
  • Law Enforcement
  • Assistance to Victims of Crime
  • Public order Maintenance
  • Emergency Response
The addition of the Dynamic Simulation Area (DSA) has allowed for expanded skills to be developed through real-life simulation exercises utilizing professional actors in a real-world environment. The DSA is unique in the North American police training environment and allows students to correct errors in a safe setting, prior to utilizing their skills in the public forum.

Forensic Identification Training
The Forensic Identification Training Unit has taken direction from the Campbell and Kaufman inquiries to design and deliver courses that are highly relevant to police services. Most course offerings have a direct linkage to our Major Case Management Training. Forensic Training adopting advanced technology has been utilized in such areas as:
  • Digital imaging (photographs and video) for images and charts
  • Archiving and file management
  • Crime Scene measurement
The Forensic Entomology Course has drawn interest from both domestic and international stakeholders. Through our partnership with Laurentian University, some very important scientific documents have been forthcoming including:
  • An insect succession study
  • Documentation on post –fire invasion of insects and
  • Collection and preservation of insect samples for southern Ontario
Existing partnerships are in place with a diverse group of stakeholders including RCMP, OPP, SIU, CFS, FBI, and the CPRC of the National Research Council.

Criminal Investigations Training
The OPC has introduced a number of new and redesigned programs in an effort to ensure the training delivered is current and relevant for senior investigators. During the last year, some courses have been completely updated including:
  • Drug investigation
  • Homicide
  • Offenses against Children
A new “marijuana grow operation” in our Dynamic Simulation Area offers an opportunity to investigate an operation and learn about possible life threatening hazards prior to being confronted with it in the field. Currently, we are working on a new Clandestine Laboratory course in partnership with the OPP. and RCMP The OPC is also developing a new “ Computer Crime course” to assist investigators in capturing information from computer hard drives. The course will assist investigators in the areas of child pornography, and many other sophisticated computer crime cases.

Working hand in hand with the Campbell Steering Committee, the OPC has re-designed the Ontario Major Case Management Course (OMCM). The new training system will support an integrated approach model that will provide members of the command triangle the training, the tools and the confidence to change current practice from paper-based to the electronic management of major cases. Training for multi-jurisdictional Major Case managers will be developed during the fall of 2004.

Additional Programs
The OPC continues to increase its expertise in many specialty areas including:
  • Race relations and diversity
  • Mentally ill
  • Collision reconstruction
  • Positional asphyxia
  • Leadership training
  • Footwear analysis
  • Use of force
The OPC is currently working on an e-learning delivery system to ensure we are at the cutting edge of training delivery. The OPC is working with other ministry training institutions, the CPRC of National Research Council, Justice Knowledge Network, and others to devise a comprehensive, cost-effective system that will meet the needs of all OPC’s clients.

World Wide Interest
The OPC mission statement begins “As a leader on the international stage of police training……….”. We certainly recognize the enormity of the statement, however, we can proudly profess that in the last two years the OPC has truly become a world leader in police training. Building on its many years of North American recognition, the OPC expanded its sphere of influence to include the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Netherlands Forensic Institute, and a large delegation from the Peoples Republic of China.

The OPC and its programs are experiencing ever-increasing world attention. We were extremely pleased to provide training to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for their members and 12 US police services sponsored by the FBI, in Bloodstain Pattern Recognition. As well an additional 12 American police services requested and received training for their members in Forensics Math and Physics. This year the OPC provided assistance to the Canadian Police College by delivering a Use of Force course to their client group. As well the OPC provides all the training materials for the St. John N.B. Police Service in the areas of Advanced Patrol Training (APT) and the General Investigation Training.

We continue to host numerous delegations from around the world who come to review the centralized training model. Ontario can be proud of the fact that we have become the model for other institutions around the globe.

As the premier police training institution in Ontario and one of the largest residential police training facilities in North America, the OACP and other associations can be assured that through their continued support, partnership, and guidance, that the police in Ontario have access to one of the best training systems anywhere. The OPC will strive to ensure that YOUR College continues to be a world-class police training facility.

Rudy Gheysen, Director


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